by Amy Deason
How long could this go on before one of the bullets came through the counter and hit her? Or him? She was surprised it hadn’t happened yet.
As if in answer, the gunfire tapered off then stopped completely. Her ears were still ringing as Nikolas pulled himself completely away from her.
She began to panic.
Oh God, where’s he going? Surely he won’t leave me here.
Nikolas rose in a semi-crouch, still below the relative safety of the counter, the gun gripped tightly in both hands. Moving only to cover her ears with her hands, she continued to lay on the floor, eyes trained on his every movement. Although she wasn’t making a sound, he put his finger to his lips urging her to stay quiet. Nodding, she silently pleaded with him to get her out of here as she held her breath waiting. Waiting for what, she didn’t know.
Then she heard it.
The crunch of glass underfoot. And the hushed Russian voices.
Oh no . . .
The sound of footsteps grew louder as the gunmen came closer to the bar. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her lungs screamed for air but she didn’t dare breathe for fear they would descend on them quicker. She wasn’t sure what would happen when they rounded the corner and saw them but she had a pretty good idea. It was nothing good. But before her mind could play the scene out, Nikolas moved.
Faster than a bolt of lightning, he was on his feet, the gun swinging around in front of him. From her position on the floor, she was left staring up at Nikolas’s torso, unable to see what was happening. But she could hear. Oh boy could she ever.
Simultaneously, three quick blasts rang out above her head and she clenched her eyes shut. The shots were followed by a loud grunt and a heavy crash. Then another.
“Cadence, get up! Come on, we have to go. Now!”
She opened her eyes but was too afraid to move. Frozen in place, she could only lay there, her hands pressed over her ears. But she didn’t stay there long.
In one fluid motion, Nikolas reached down and dragged her to her feet. As he pulled her toward the back door, she risked a look behind her. There were two men, both dressed in black and both crumpled on the floor. One of them had crashed into the table which lay in ruins, his neck a mess of blood and flesh. The other had a perfectly round circle in the center of his forehead. A thin line of blood trailed from it, soaking the bushy eyebrow above a wide, staring brown eye.
Her throat tightened in response and for a second, she was sure she tasted corn flakes.
“Cadence, move!”
Pulling her eyes from the dead men, she focused on the man in front of her. Black eyes, handsome face, and blood. Splattered on his face like a connect-the-dots game.
“Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” If he was hurt, how was she going to get out of this alive?
“It’s not mine. Now move!”
Shoving her behind him, Nikolas opened the door and peered out, the gun aimed in front of him. He grabbed her hand and charged out the door, pulling her to the motorcycle that stood waiting.
“Get on,” he ordered, his voice rough and bruising.
Not about to balk, she climbed on seconds before he jumped in front of her, his butt shoved snugly between her thighs. The motorcycle started with a roar, ripping through the dusk as Nikolas revved the engine. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she forgot about her aching wrist and pressed her cheek into the middle of his back. She could feel the waves of heat coming off of his skin as it flowed through his shirt and into her face. And the beat of his heart resounded in her ear. Any other time, being this close to him might have caused the arousal she was beginning to expect but not this time. This time, the heat and his beating heart simply meant they were both alive. At least for now.
Thank God for Nikolas.
She gripped him tighter as they tore out of the backyard, grass and dirt flying in their wake. Keeping her face clamped to his back, they rounded the corner of the house, nearly colliding with two men. Dressed from head to toe in black, they had pistols aimed directly at them. Without hesitation, Nikolas raised his own gun and pulled the trigger, dropping one of the men as they sped past. The wheels of the motorcycle hit the pavement and screeched as they took hold, leaving everything behind them.
Chapter 8
Damn that was close.
Nikolas swerved around the car poking along in front of him. How had they found them so fast? And how had they found out about the house in the first place? It was one of several safe houses scattered throughout Russia and it was supposed to be secure. But apparently it wasn’t secure enough. And if they were able to find it so easily, then it was possible others might be compromised as well.
Behind him the angry rev of an engine made him glance into the side mirror.
Oh great, more trouble.
The dark-colored sedan was right on their heels, weaving in and out of traffic, trying to close the distance between them. He’d killed two, possibly three men back there but the remaining guy was obviously intent on running them down. Nikolas could lose him easily enough. Just swing into a narrow alleyway and boom, the man in the car was gone. But he couldn’t leave him alive. He was a witness and he would go back to Dmitry. Nope, it would be better to get rid of him.
The problem was Cadence. What in the hell was he going to do with her while he dealt with the man in the sedan? It was dangerous enough as it was but add her to the mix and the whole thing could just go south. He needed to keep her safe. Somehow it had become a priority to him. But how was he going to do it with a gun toting asshole behind them?
He could dump her. Stash her somewhere safe long enough for him to get rid of the guy closing in on their heels. But where?
The idea came to him in a flash. It was the perfect place and not too far from here. He could be there in under five minutes if they could just stay ahead of the goon in the car. Cadence was going to hate it but he couldn’t care less. He had to rid of this guy before he decided to play a game of ‘Shoot ‘em up, Pete.’ And Cadence, being perched behind him, would be the first one hit by the gunman’s bullet if he started firing.
Twisting the throttle, Nikolas forced the motorcycle to higher speeds, slinging them around a corner onto an empty street. Gaining more ground, Nikolas glanced back in time to see the sedan crash into a trio of trash cans. Not slowing, the driver expertly manhandled the car back into the center of the road, still charging after them.
No problem. He’d just have to out run him on the straight stretch. He needed to be out of sight just long enough to hide Cadence. Once he dropped her off, he would lead the gunman to the ravine and get rid of him there. Nikolas just hoped he wouldn’t notice Cadence missing from the back of the bike. If he did, then this plan would be shot to hell. Now if only Cadence could hang on until they got there. He didn’t believe it would be a problem because right now she was squeezing his chest hard enough to break a few ribs.
Facing the street again, he took the next right followed by a left. This was the quickest way to the city limits and to the place he was looking for. Maybe now would be a good time to fill Cadence in on the plan.
Here goes nothing . . .
Nikolas cocked his head to the side in order to make sure Cadence would hear him. They were almost there and he didn’t have time to repeat himself.
“Cadence!” he yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the engine and the wind blowing directly into his face.
“What?” she hollered, her voice muffled against his back.
“There’s a man in the car behind us. I have to get rid of him. But to do it, I am going to have to dump you somewhere.”
He felt the heat of her face leave his back.
“Dump me somewhere? What are you talking about?”
“In a minute or two, I am going to need you to jump.”
“Jump? Off
a moving motorcycle? Are you nuts?” she screeched.
Ignoring the panic in her voice, Nikolas continued, “When I tell you to, jump into the ditch and stay out of sight until the car passes. Then run toward the gate.”
“What gate?”
Nikolas flew over the rise in the road. “That gate,” he said, lifting one hand and pointing.
Forty yards on his right, the oversized gate, set into the side of a low-slung hill, loomed like a door to a prison cell.
Dropping down to just over forty miles an hour, he twisted his head further to glance at her. “Now remember, stay in the ditch until the car passes.”
Her arms tightened around his waist. “Are you crazy?” she exclaimed. “I’m not jumping!”
“Yes, you are. Now, when you get there, go inside and wait for me. But stay close to the gate.”
“No! No way! You’re going too fast!” Though the wind ripped the words away, it would have been impossible for him not to hear the panic in her voice.
“Cadence, listen to me. You have to do it.”
“No, no. You won’t come back.”
“I will come back for you. I promise.”
“No you won’t.”
The plaintive tone tugged at his heart but he swatted it away. There was no time for sentiment. “You have to trust me. I will come back.”
He wasn’t sure she was going to respond and he was about to open his mouth to argue when she nodded her head against his back. Not exactly the answer he’d hoped for, it would have to do because they were almost there.
The speedometer dropped quickly as they reached the spot he wanted her to jump. Thirty-five, twenty, fifteen.
“One . . . two . . .” He felt her body tense against his and wished there was some other way to do this but there wasn’t enough time for anything else. “Three. JUMP!”
For a moment, he thought he was going to have to force her off the bike. He dropped his speed even further, anticipating having to wrench her arms away. But then, at the very last second, she relinquished her hold and jumped. Dark tendrils of hair and a pair of blurred tennis shoes were the last thing he saw as she tumbled into the shallow ditch.
In the mirror, headlights from the sedan topped the hill, still giving chase. Praying Cadence had enough sense to do what she was told, Nikolas leaned forward and shot into the night with the sedan eating up the pavement behind him.
~ ~ ~
Cadence grunted as she hit shoulder first, the force knocking the air from her lungs and jarring every bone in her body. Rolling down the short incline, she came to a stop at the bottom, her stomach flat against the ground and her mouth and nose shoved into the grass.
“Uhhhhh,” she moaned, unable to stop the sound from escaping. Not nearly enough to sum up the pain she was feeling, she released a second groan, much longer than the first. Every part of her body was aching, screaming in agony, and all she could manage to utter was a few deep moans.
She was done. She just wanted to lay right here and wait for Nikolas to come back. If he did. The guy was dangerous and a liar and she didn’t trust him for a minute. Except that wasn’t entirely true. If she didn’t trust him, at least a little, she would never have leaped from the speeding motorcycle and into a ditch in the middle of nowhere.
Turning her head, she drew a shaky breath and opened her eyes. Blades of grass swam into focus and an army of minuscule black ants marched away from her along an invisible path. She was alive. Dirty and bruised but alive. Thank God.
A car flew by, its engine snarling like a caged beast. Already as low to the ground as she could get, Cadence tried to sink deeper into the dirt and grass. Holding her breath, she waited, straining to hear the squeal of brakes and the hiss of tires as the car reversed back to the spot where she lay motionless. But there was nothing. Only the sound of the passing car fading further and further into the distance.
Raising her head, she tried to look over the top of the ditch but she was too far down to see anything but green grass and the white tufts of dandelion heads swaying in the breeze. As much as she would like to, she knew she couldn’t just lay here all night. She had to get up and get to the gate.
Wonder where it goes, she thought, pushing herself to her feet. She looked around, noticing she was completely alone out here. The highway, smooth and black, knifed itself through the countryside. Well, countryside was probably an overstatement. From where she stood, she could see nothing more than a few scattered trees mingling with an occasional boulder the size of a compact car and mounds of dirt exposing themselves like the breasts of a peepshow girl.
It was kind of scary being out here by herself and it only got worse when a line from Alien suddenly came to her, something about no one hearing you scream.
Spooking herself, she took off, sprinting toward the tall gate in the side of the hill. A feeling of being watched crept over her and though she was tempted to look behind her, she didn’t dare. With each step she took, her wrist and knee throbbed but she wasn’t about to slow down. Her feet pounded the grass as she ran and it seemed like the closer she got to the gate, the more she was sure would never make it. That whoever, or whatever, was watching her would catch her before she got there.
Only when she collapsed against the circular gate, the cold, rusty bars clamped between her fingers, did she turn to look behind her.
Still alone.
“Wheww.” Feeling incredibly stupid and more than a little silly, she lowered her head, opened her mouth, and sucked in several long, yawning breaths. When her heart beat slowed to a relatively normal pace, she lifted her head and peered into the opening beyond the gate.
It was a tunnel. A long, dark, cavernous tunnel.
It wasn’t completely dark though. Small light bulbs placed sparingly along the interior walls revealed a smooth concrete surface and a shallow stream of water running along the floor.
“What is this place?” Her voice, echoing in the channel, had a strange rippling quality she didn’t care for. It sounded creepy, almost evil. She did not want to go in there.
Dropping her hands, she took a step back and looked at the gate. A metal sign, worn by both age and the elements, hung crookedly above it.
Vkhod kanalizatsiya.
Now what did it say?
Cadence tried to remember different words from her Russian dictionary but it was no use.
She couldn’t remember a single word. Forgetting the sign, she studied the gate instead. Approximately ten feet tall and eight feet wide, it loomed in front of her, instantly transforming her into a midget. And it smelled. Or rather, whatever lay behind it did. Like a sewer.
A sewer?
Was that what this was? Oh man, she really didn’t want to go in there now.
Maybe she didn’t have to. She could just go back the way they came. And when she gets back to St. Petersburg, she could . . . she could what? She had no money, no ID, nothing.
Everything had been lost in the fire. Including her cell phone. She knew she should have memorized those numbers. Shit. But surely there was an American Embassy wasn’t there? If she could make it there, then they could help her. Hope bloomed in her chest for a moment before burning out and smoldering.
What if she ran into one of Dmitry’s men again? Nikolas said they would be crawling the streets looking for her. She didn’t have a tire iron this time. A lot of good it had done her last time. She’d missed bigger than shit, barely grazing the blond man’s arm. The smartest thing to do would be to do what Nikolas said and wait for him.
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Guess I’m going in.”
Cadence wrapped her hands around the gritty bars and jerked on them hard, expecting she’d have to use force to open the rusty gate. But she nearly landed on her backside when it swung open easily and without a sound. Regaining her balance,
she tossed one more glance behind her then stepped inside.
Closing the gate behind her, she sidestepped the shallow water, holding her arms out for balance. The floor was slippery and sure enough, her shoe skidded right into the dark, stinky liquid. Lifting her foot, she shook it rapidly and reached out, touching the concrete wall.
“Yuck!” she screeched, yanking her hand away from whatever wet and slimy goo her fingers sank in. She wiped her palm on her jeans in disgust.
Maybe she should just wait here by the gate. There was no telling what was down here. But if someone came by and saw her . . . She didn’t even want to think about it. She had already seen enough trouble to last her a lifetime. Ten lifetimes.
Up ahead, she saw a lapse in the water or whatever this was running along the floor.
It’s water, it’s water, just keep thinking it’s water, she ordered herself, refusing to acknowledge the real name to the nasty stuff in here.
If she could make it to that spot, at least her feet wouldn’t get wet. And it was only a short distance from where she stood now. But that was as far as she was going. No further. Absolutely not.
Tiptoeing through the shallowest pools of water, she reached the dry spot. If she kept her feet together, most of her shoes would stay out of the muck. She would just stand here, underneath the light bulb, and wait for Nikolas. She just hoped he would hurry up. It was damp and dark in here. And the smell was absolutely horrendous. Like a zoo full of dead, rotting animals in the middle of July.
Cadence leaned precariously against the wall and looked around, noticing with some surprise that the tunnel didn’t continue in a straight line like she’d originally thought. Fifteen feet further, the concrete wall took an abrupt turn to the left. Even with the lights, it was impossible to see around the corner. She wasn’t sure she wanted to anyway. There was no telling what was there. It would probably make this situation worse.
